To All,
I am a little confused
Is the line of thought regarding "free-will" only free if the effect comes without cause?
Well, if this is true then God surely has not
free-will either; (Shock Horror)
Please follow along.......
Gen 1:1
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Why? Was this some random event that God had no control of?
Did he not first choose?
Gen 1:3
And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. So when God said: Let there be light, it was NOT caused by some random thought, it was deliberate, God wanted light.
Gen 1:4
And God saw the light, that [it was] good: and God divided the light from the darkness. God wanted there to be light and he "willed" that there was light. The light did not magically and suddenly appear with out cause.
God said prior to making man: "
Let us make man in our image, after our likeness" (Gen 1:26)
Will anyone stand up and say that this thought came to God without reason or without cause?
Surely on this premise, God decided to create man for a reason. Could it be that he had already planned it? I simply do not believe that the creator of the entire universe, including the delicate petals and sweet fragrance of a rose did so without reason or cause. God is free to think, plan and do. There is nothing random about him.
So what is Free-Will when viewed in the context of God? Whatever God wants, regardless of motive, simply happens. Cause and effect, not effect without cause, everything happens (effect) because of God wants it too; he decides (cause) God has no constraints, inabilities or limitations in His ability but he is not without order. God first formed man, then he gave gave life to the lifeless form. (something we cannot do because we cannot cause life out of dust)
Gen 2:7
And the LORD God formed man [of] the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. God is free to will anything, not only because he is the creator of everything, but simply because he can. It is not the "free" in free-will that is important, it is the "will." Can we say "Let there be light" and will a darkened room be lit? Well of cause we can, all we need is a voice activated light switch. The thought process is very similar to Gods, God did not want darkness always, and neither do we. Yet we need some electrical device to switch an electrical circuit so that electricity can light an electric light bulb (oh we better have electricy or we are still in the dark)
How many provisions must be in place for us to turn darkness into light? Plenty! Yet God needed only darkness. God said, "Let there be light" and possibly all of the stars including our Sun were made. Were they made in an instant, that is irrelevant. The simple fact is that he "caused" it, because he willed it, not because he was "free" to do so. God is under no such constraint.
I can "will" an object to fall to my feet, by releasing my fingers; however, I can only do so if I have control of my fingers, that the object is free to fall, that I can actually hold it, that I am not hanging upside down (I cant will it to fall up)
Oh, and I need gravity, for a helium filled balloon would not fall.
Gosh, I can't will it to fall. I have to set everything up so that the object can fall, and even then I am reliant on gravity which is of God. I am free to choose what I want, but I CANNOT cause it to happen without intervention. I cannot "will" the words onto the computer screen, they appear because of a myriad of thoughts, systems, electrity, ideas, plans, failures, break throughs, etc. Which all occured (sometimes many years) before I press a key.
Everything we do is intrinsically based on what God allows to happen. He caused gravity when something falls; He created water so we can get wet. He gave us a sense of smell and he created fragrences; he gave us a mind and the ability to think, feel and discover, yet we will never discover anything that God knew not first.
I can plan and build and I can make something happen; however, everything I do, think or feel is surrounded by myriads of constraints and my inept inability. I simply cannot "will" a cup of hot steaming coffee in the morning without intervention or action
God can, I can't!
Please let me know your heartfelt thoughts on this. Of course my thoughts are limited by my experience, but my ability to cause like God, is simply non existent, free or not.
Much Love to Everyone,
Love in Christ,
Darren